Trailer leg support



W. BRBEH.

TRAILER LEG SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8,1919.

Patented May 9, M222 LMSGQSM 2 SHEETS-SHEET l- W. BARBER.

TRAILER LEG SUPPORT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8,1919.

l ,4:1 5,008 Patentad. May 9, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

f, INVENTOR WMMQMM WLLLM. BARBER, OF

BROOKLYN, 'NEW YORK.

ramena inne vs'orronr.

Ltill.

Application filed may s,

To all whom it' may concern.

,Be it known that WILLIAM BARBER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn', county of Kings, State of New York, have made a certain new and useful Invention in Trailer Leg Supports, of which the following is a specification. f

This invention relates to leg ysupports for trailers. L

The object. of the invention is to provide a leg support for truck trailers which is simple in structure and eiicient in operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a leg support for truck trailers which, when desired, may be employedfor shifting the trailer, or which will operate to prevent yshifting movement of :the trailer when detached from the tractor.

A further object of 'the invention is to provide a combined roller and shoe attach ment for trailers of simple construction and .which is eiiicient and easily applied and operated. y x

-@ther objects of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter.

. The invention consists substantially in the construction, oombination,.location and relative arrangement! of parts, all v as will be more fully hereinafter set forth, as shown in the accompanying vdrawings and finally pointed out in the appended claims.'

Referring to the drawings z-f Fig. 1= is a view in side elevation cfa trailer showing thel applicationy thereto oa combined roller and shoe leg support for one end, thereof, a displaced position of the parts being indicated in dotted lines.`

Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation of the trailershown Iin Fig. 1., showing t'he application o the roller and leg attachment.

Fig. 3 is a viewin section on .the line 3, 3,

Fig. 5.l y

ig. 4c 4is 'a broken detail view in section showing swivel connection oi afcastor..

Fig. 5 is a view in side'elevation on a somewhat' enlarged scale of a structure of .combined roller and leg attachment ernbod ing my invention, a displaced position of t e shoe being indicated in dotted lines. i

Fig is a view in front 'elevation' of the construction shown in Fig.' 5.

Fig. 7 is a broken view* in. top plan.

Fig. 8 is'a broken detail view in perspeci `'tive oi the Shoe.

Specication of Letters Patent.

)Patented May 9, i322.' isis. serial no. 295,727. i

The same part is designated by the same reference numeral wherever i it occurs throughout the several views. l

ln the operation of trucks it is'fa'common practice to employ tractors and trailers, the trailer being equipped with rear supporting wheels and detachably connectedV at its front end with the tractor. When the trailerv has been detached from the tractor it is necessary lto provide some form of means for .supporting thefront end of the trailer. Various formsof supporting legs have been heretofore provided forl this purpose, the

legs being'hingedlto the body of the trailer at its frontend and when required for use being swung down to engage the` iioor or ground and performing the ,function not onl of a support for the frontend of the trailer but also or" raising the front end of `the trailer out of its engagement with the tractor.v It is frequently desirable to shift the position of a trailer after it has been detache'd. from the tractor and hence the desirability of equipping lthe supporting legs With rollers or casters by or upon which the front end of the trailer is supported and which may 'serve the function of a roller` support for the front end of the trailer to permit the trailer to be shifted from one i osition to another. It is equally desirable,

owever, to provide means to prevent the shifting movement of the`trailer whende'- tached from the tractor. 'It is among the special purposes of my present invention to provide a combined roller and shoe device. yfor the legsupports of trailers whereby the trailer when detached from its tractor may be carried uponthe lroller sup ort whenever desired for shifting the trailer,

movement, Iof the trailer the shoe is brought into .action to hold the trailer againstshiiting movement. ,In this'case the shoe is disposed so as to be brought at will'into and endl and` is. journaled in boxes'Q at oppoi but when it is desired to prevent shitting j out of contact with the surface of the floor site sides of the trailer body. rlhe-ends of the bar 1l outside or beyond the boxes 12 v ica i mijn ii-i. faire. forear' reinos@ 13. llhe boxes 12 are formed with stationary open sided sleeve portions 1t which depend vertically therefrom and in which the vertical leg portions 13 or the bar 11 are received, and in which said leg portions lmay be retained or locked in vertical position in any suitableor convenient manner, as 'for instance, by means of the retaining pins 15, see Figs. 5 and 6. By removing the retaining pin 15 the legs 13' may be swung up yagainst the underside ot the trailer Vbody as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the bar 11 rocking in its bearing in the blocks 12 andthe legs may be locked or otherwise retained in their raised position in any suitable or convenient manner. This retracted position ot the leg is the position occupied thereby/when the front end ot the trailer is supported upon the tractor and the trailer is being operated by the tractor in the ordinary way. lWhen it is desired to detach the trailer trom thev tractor the legs 13 are roclred downwardly trom their raised or retracted positions until contact is effected with the ground and then the tractor is slightly backed until the legs assume their directly vertical osition. rlFhe iront end of the trailer is t ereby raised so as to be detached vtroni the tractor, whereupon the tractor may proceed to any other point while the trailer remains in the position in which it is left. lt frequently happens in, practice that it is desirable to shi-tt the detached trailer from one position to another or to turn it. r,llo permit this, in accordance with my invention, provide the lower ends ot the legs 13 with casters or rollers 15, which, it desired, in y be suitably mounted 'upon the if 13 so as to permit a castery movement thereof. A. simple arrangement tor accomplishing this is shown wherein the rollers are jonrnaled in brackets 1S formed at v "if per end thereof with a swivel. plate l?, a Fig. which is connected a ce located vertically oivot 'to a cooperating' be insecure aft/er being detached from a trac tor. ln order to prevent this, and to provide means for efficiently holding the detached trailer in any desired position to which it Ymay be shifted, l provide each leg 13 with ako shoe member 22 in 'theI form of a dat faced member which on its under surface, and it desired, may be formed with corrugations or teeth as indicated at 23, arranged to lie `tlatwise upon the floor or surface when said shoe is in position Jloruse. The shoe member is formed with a central depression indicated at 2li, see F ig. 8, within which the caster wheel 15 operates, said caster wheel operating to prevent any lateral rocking or displacement of the shoe. Each shoe 22 is carried by yolre arms 25 which are hinged as at 26 to the legs 13 above the swivel connection of the caster roller to the lower ends ot said legs so that when the shoes are not required for use they may be rocked or swung upwardly as indicated in dotted linesin Fig. 5. rlhe shoe may be retained in working position or in raised retracted position in any suitable or convenient manner. A simple arrangement is shown where tension springs 27 'are connected at one end to a pin or rod 28 carried by the legs 13 and at their other ends at opposite sides of the shoe. The points ot' connection ot the tension springs to the legs and to the shoes respectively .are so located with reference to axes about which the `shoe. supporting arms 25 roclr or swing that when the shoes are in position for use, as shown for eXam=l 1ple in lig. 5, the tension oi the springs 27 is exerted in a direction to hold the shoes in worlring position, and likewise when the shoe is recited into its raised or mtracted position the springs 2?' pass beyond the dead center plane containing the hinge axes 28, 26, and hence the tension ot the springs serves to retain shoes in their raised or retracted position. With the shoes in their raised position, and the legs 13 standing vertically, the 'trailer is tree to be shifted around, upon caster wheels 15, and when the "roes are in their lowered working position, trailer is i t y, losing shifted and is held leg, and a shoe plvotally carried by said leg l from a point above said Wheel in pivotal alignment to be movable into and out of'` working position.,

3. The combination with a trailer body, of a supporting leg therefor, said leg being hinged or pivoted to said body, a supporting Wheel carried by the free end of sa1d leg, a

shoe carried by said leg for movement into and out of Working position, and means for yieldingly maintainin said shoe in Working position, said means a so operatmg to retain the shoe in retracted position.

4. The combination with a trailer body, of a supporting leg therefor, said le' being hinged or p-ivoted to said body, a, yo e p1votally connected to said leg and a shoe car-' ried by said yoke for movement into and out of sition to form a support for the trailer boni;

, and ,means for yieldingly maintaining a shoe pivotally mounted on said le movement intoand out of Working position.

said shoe in either Working or retracted position.

5`. The combination with a trailer body having a vertically disposed bearing. sleeve, a support-ing leg pivotally connected to said body to be receive'din said bearing sleeve when rockeddown into vertical position, a wheel carried by the f ree end of said leg afnd or 6. The combination with a trailer body having a vertically disposed bearing sleeve, al supporting leg pivotallyl connected to said body to be received in said bearing sleeve when rocked down into vertical sition, a Wheel carried by the free end o said leg, and a shoe pivotally mounted on Said leg at a point above the Wheel for movement .of said shoe into and out of Working position,- said shoe when in Working position adapted to straddle said wheel and to take the support of the trailer body.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand on this first day of May, A. D. 1919.

WILLIAM BARBER. 

